Superhydrophobic coated metal foam for PEM fuel cell application

In this paper, the preliminary investigations of superhydrophobic spray coated metal foam for Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell application have been investigated. The metal foam was coated using a commercial superhydrophobic spray and has been compared to the uncoated sample. The analyses include in these current investigations are SEM characterization, porous area, contact angle and capillary measurements. Metal foam has high contact angle as a result of the superhydrophobic coating and thus less friction occurred between the water droplet and the foam’s surface. The analyses confirmed that the superhydrophobic coated metal foam has a potential application to be used as a flow field plate for enhancing its water transport and distribution in the cathode side of the PEM fuel cell.